


Tribute to Opportunity

by triggermoreliketiger



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, DESERVES A FIC, Gen, Oppy is mentioned and you're gonna cry, Oppy was a good rover, logan's angst, not heavy but still, ok, okay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 11:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17827712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triggermoreliketiger/pseuds/triggermoreliketiger
Summary: Logan finds out about rover Opportunity.





	Tribute to Opportunity

**Author's Note:**

> This is for all the space nerds out there. And for Opportunity.

Logan had always praised himself for loving things that couldn’t fail him. He loved things he could be sure of. Like facts. Logan loved facts beyond any rational thinking. (which stung a little bit but as long as no one paid attention to that ridiculous irony, he was fine).

Logan also loved books. Once he obtained a new book he could be sure it wouldn’t change over the night. This certainty was really soothing. It made his heart grow.

Logan loved science too. Because as far as he knew there were some general truths that were impossible to overturn. Besides, every new information was supported with a whole line of experiments. That kind of change Logan was able to accept.

The only thing that was slipping the neat list of things Logan Sanders loved was space. The Great Unknown. The stars, the moon, the galaxies far beyond his reach. These were things he loved but couldn’t grip. It hurt. And yet it was also what was lighting up each of his sleepless nights. Scattered information about space were filling the voids in his head and heart. Knowing that even something so utterly beautiful as space had black dangerous holes, was somehow like a balm to his tired soul. Yes, Logan loved space more than anything else. He thought that it was the kind of love that couldn’t hurt him. It could only expand, just like his knowledge and like space itself.

That one morning was just like any other and nothing was hinting towards the tragedy that was about to turn Logan’s life upside down. He got up fairly early, like he usually did. He went to make some coffee before any other sides put their foot in the kitchen. Adjusting his glasses Logan smiled, upon seeing snoring Patton who was spanned on the couch in the living room. Logan grabbed his mug with steaming liquid and scooted back to his room.

Quietly, he slipped on the chair in his room and, sipping the hot dark coffee, turned on his laptop. Rays of the sun were spreading golden flakes across Logan’s desk. He put down his mug with the logo of NASA and hummed happily, while typing in his password. The screen lightened up and the image of colorful galaxy greeted Logan’s vision. He smiled lightly and opened the browser, thinking that it seemed that he’d have a nice productive day.

Everything started with a short post that was almost invisible to see in the flood of other posts. It was a matter of luck really, that Logan even noticed that one tweet.

 _“we lost opportunity”_  tweeted someone whose face rang a bell in Logan’s head but it didn’t matter now. Not really. Because the message he read was unsettling.

Maybe if Logan wasn’t Logan, he wouldn’t feel the pang of fear in his heart. Because why would he mourn over somebody’s lost opportunity?

But, you see, Logan loved the word “opportunity”. Not because of its definition. It was much more than just a simple noun. To Logan “opportunity” was a name. And Logan knew this name. Opportunity.

It took less than few minutes for him to scan the news on the NASA website. And it took a second to read this one sentence.

_“My battery is low and it’s getting dark.”_

The coffee was forgotten in a split of a second. So were the noises of the house waking up from the night full of sleep. Logan’s vision blurred a little bit and when he felt the tear running down his cheek he wasn’t even remotely surprised. Opportunity and its words were echoing in his head as if he was the one that heard them.

_“My battery is low and it’s running dark.”_

Logan got up from his chair and slowly moved over to his bed, blinding the windows on his way. Mechanically he put the laptop on his pillow and opened a new tab. Soon the screen flickered with thousands of stars and galaxies. Minutes later he felt like he was standing on the red planet, Mars. He didn’t bother to wipe the tears that were running down his cheekbones and pressed and “play”. One last time he wanted to have an opportunity to see space with the eyes of Opportunity.

—

When Logan was ready to go out of his room again, it was late evening. There was nothing unusual in him spending whole day in his room. Patton knew that Logan had his secret stash of food in his room, so he didn’t complain when Logan disappeared in his room from time to time.

Coming back on Earth was an unpleasant experience for Logan, even though he didn’t leave his room. His feet felt heavy, almost as heavy as his head. He stopped crying long time ago, his eyes were searching for the red dust but all they saw was blue carpet. Logan pressed the doorknob and walked out of his room, holding his mug that was still filled with morning’s coffee. With difficulty, he dragged himself downstairs. Patton, Roman and Virgil were sitting in the living room, watching television.

“Hey specs.” nodded Roman, his eyes glued to the screen.

“Yo.” added Virgil, looking at Logan briefly.

“If you want some dinner, there’s a leftover pasta on the counter!” smiled Patton. His eyes lingered on Logan a little bit longer but he didn’t say anything more.

Not quite trusting his vocal chords, Logan nodded and made his way to the kitchen. He didn’t feel like eating but since he didn’t want to upset Patton, he put a little bit of pasta on his plate. The microwave hummed when he placed the dish to heat up. Once the pasta was ready, Logan decided to go back to his room. He still wasn’t at his sharpest and didn’t want to bourden the sides with his ridiculous problems.

He was climbing stairs once he heard Roman’s voice shouting after him.

“Hey, Logan!”

“Mhm?” he murmured in response. He really didn’t feel like dealing with others today.

“You like space, don’t you?” asked Roman. That stopped Logan’s motions. He turned on his heel and looked down at sides spanned over the sofa.

“Yes, I do. Why asking?” said Logan with his voice as flat as possible.

“In the news they announced that NASA lost connection with some rover on the Mars.” replied Virgil. “It had some funny name… What was it…?”

“Oppy!” blurted out Patton and giggled. “That’s the shorter version. Like. Oppy-Opportunity! Have you heard about that, Lo?” Patton tilted his head to the side.

Logan swallowed hard the saliva gathering in his mouth. It tasted like acid.

“I’ve read some news. Yes.” words echoed in his ears. He barely recognized his own voice.

“Its last message was something about low battery and darkness… Sad, isn’t it?” asked Roman, frowning a little bit.

“It’s just a rover, Roman. Don’t be dramatic.” sighed Virgil, shifting on his seat. Logan could feel the cold blood running through his veins. Tears pricked in his eyes once again. He turned away in order to hide his face.

“Well, if that’s all then I shall be going.” he declared stiffly and not waiting for an approval, ran upstairs.

His breathing was hitched once he reached his room. His eyes were watery once he closed his door. His fingers were numb once he set the plate with pasta aside.

Logan fell on his bed and covered his head with the cover.

He felt that his battery was low and it was getting dark all over around him.

 

_The end._

**Author's Note:**

> know more about the rover Oppy:   
> https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/nasa-mars-rover-opportunity-dead-what-it-gave-humankind/


End file.
